Today I have signed into law H.R. 4546, the "Bob Stump National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003." The Act authorizes
the funding necessary to protect the United States and advance its
interests abroad. In particular, it authorizes the resources necessary
to continue the war against terrorists of global reach, to equip and
train our Armed Forces for success in combat, and to support the
members of the Armed Forces and their families with a substantial and
fully merited increase in basic pay. The Act also grants new
authorities to the Department of Defense that will assist in
transforming the armed forces to meet future challenges.

A number of provisions of the Act establish new requirements for
the executive branch to furnish sensitive information to the Congress
on various subjects, including sections 221, 1043, 1065 (enacting 10
U.S.C. 127b(f)(2)(C)(ii) and (iii)), 1205, 1206, 1207, and 1209
(enacting section 722 of Public Law 104-293). The executive branch
shall construe such provisions in a manner consistent with the
President's constitutional authority to with-hold information the
disclosure of which could impair foreign relations, the national
security, the deliberative processes of the Executive, or the
performance of the Executive's constitutional duties.

Many provisions of the Act call for executive branch officials to
submit recommendations and plans to the Congress, including sections
112(b), 142(c), 221(c), 231 (enacting 10 U.S.C. 196), 234(c),
241(c)(3)(D), 366, 404(c), 513(e), 534(c), 582, 721 (enacting 38 U.S.C.
8111(c)(4) and (f)(2)(C) and (F)), 723, 813, 924, 1043(b)(2), 1061
(enacting 10 U.S.C. 113a), 1207, 1208 (enacting section 1503(b)(8) of
Public Law 103-337), 3141(e), 3143, 3176(b)(4) and (d), and
3504(c)(4). The executive branch shall construe such provisions in a
manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority to
supervise the unitary executive branch. In addition, with respect to
provisions that purport to require executive branch officials to submit
legislative proposals to the Congress, including sections 513(e), 813,
1061, and 3143, the executive branch also shall construe such
provisions in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional
authority to submit for the consideration of the Congress such measures
as the President judges necessary and expedient.

The executive branch shall construe section 133(2)(B) of the Act as
requiring only notification to the Congress and not any form of
congressional approval following notification, as any other
construction would be inconsistent with the constitutional principles
enunciated by the Supreme Court in 1983 in INS v. Chadha.

The executive branch shall construe section 2308(e)(1) of title 10
of the United States Code, as enacted by section 801 of the Act, as
neither giving the force of law to any quantity set forth in a table,
chart, or explanatory text in a joint explanatory statement of a
House-Senate committee of conference or in any congressional committee
report, nor requiring the
exercise of waiver authority under section 2308 to acquire more
than a quantity specified in such a table, chart, or explanatory text.
Construing the section otherwise would not be consistent with the
bicameralism and presentment requirements of the Constitution for the
making of a law.

The executive branch shall implement section 2323 of title 10 of
the United States Code, as extended through fiscal year 2006 by section
816 of the Act, in a manner consistent with the equal protection
requirements of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the
Constitution.

Section 242 of the Act vests authority to direct the provision of
funds for designated projects, and to select certain projects for
funding, in an official who is to be designated by the Under Secretary
of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. Under the
Constitution, such authority should be exercised only by officers of
the United States appointed in accordance with the provisions of the
Appointments Clause. Accordingly, the Secretary of Defense shall
ensure that the official designated by the Under Secretary under this
section is a duly appointed constitutional officer or that the
official's exercise of the authority vested is supervised and reviewed
by the Under Secretary or another appropriate constitutional officer.

Finally, the executive branch shall construe sections 3155, 3156,
and 3160, which purport to require executive branch officials to
conduct programs with a foreign country, in a manner consistent with
the President's constitutional authority to conduct the foreign affairs
of the United States.